DENVER — Mookie Betts was back at shortstop and Teoscar Hernández remained in right field for the Dodgers on Tuesday, a day after two questionable fielding plays in the outfield led to two runs in a 4-3 walk-off loss to the last-place Colorado Rockies.
Hernández’s defense has increasingly become a matter of concern for manager Dave Roberts and Monday’s loss was followed by an open-door meeting involving Roberts; Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers president of baseball operations; and Betts, who has previously expressed a willingness to move back to right field where he was a six-time Gold Glove winner.
On Tuesday, both Betts and Roberts said the discussion was more about Betts’ swing than his defense, characterizing it as nothing out of the ordinary. Roberts said the Dodgers have not discussed moving Betts to right field.
“I wanted him to check in with me about where he’s at [in] certain checkpoints as we get through the season,” Roberts said. “And that was a check in.”
But, the manager acknowledged, the Dodgers’ defense remains an issue — a sacrifice he’s willing to make if it helps the team offensively.
“Are we playing our best defensive lineup? No,” Roberts continued. “But I would say there’s very few teams in the big leagues that’s playing their best defensive lineup every night. Even in a postseason race, you’ve still got to score.”
Hernández is ranked 64th among National League right fielders with a defensive WAR of -0.4 and his two errors are tied for fourth-most in the league.
“He’s got to get better out there. There’s just no way to put it,” Roberts said after Monday’s game of Hernández. “It’s not a lack of effort. But, you know, we’ve just got to kind of get better. We do.”
Betts, meanwhile, twice led the American League in fielding average and putouts as the Boston Red Sox’s right fielder. But he’s played shortstop full-time this season.
“Defense is a big part of postseason baseball and winning baseball,” Roberts said.
Betts’ move to the infield has arguably weakened the Dodgers in two ways: Hernández’s defense and Betts’ offense. Playing the infield, especially shortstop, is far more taxing mentally than playing in the outfield and Betts is slashing a career-low .242/.312/.370 this season.
If the Dodgers chose to pursue moving Betts back to right field now, it would likely mean using Alex Freeland or Miguel Rojas at shortstop, at least in the short term. Freeland played nearly 300 games at shortstop in the minors while Rojas has played more than 940 games there in the majors.
Hernández, second on the team with 74 RBIs and tied for second with 20 home runs, would then move to left field — a less-demanding position defensively than right field — in place of Michael Conforto, whose .190 batting average is the worst in the majors among players with at least 300 at-bats.
Moving Betts back to the outfield could be easier for Roberts when utility players Tommy Edman, Hyeseong Kim and Kiké Hernández return from the injured list, giving the manager more depth and flexibility. Kim, who will begin a rehab assignment this week, is the furthest along and could be back by early next week.
